Abu Dhabi’s Mubadala to invest in Asper’s Dhs2.1bn investment vehicle

Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala, will be buying a stake in Asper Investment Management’s (Asper) investment vehicle, it confirmed on December 15.

Dorothea investment vehicle (Dorothea) aims to deploy over Dhs2.1bn (€500m) to build a network of district heating services across the Netherlands. Dorothea’s newly installed heating capacity is expected to provide over 2 million Gigajoule (GJ) of sustainable heat by using clean-energy sources including a combination of geothermal, residual heat and sustainable biomass.

This complements the Netherlands’ efforts to increase renewable energy sources penetration from the current 7 per cent  to 100 per cent by 2050. Over the next 30 years, 7 million households in the country will switch to CO2 free heating solutions to meet these goals.

Khaled Abdulla Al Qubaisi, CEO of Mubadala Aerospace, Renewables and ICT said: “This investment is highly attractive for us, as heating networks not only support the development of sustainable energy infrastructure, but are also stable assets which provide predictable cash flows and steady returns. Mubadala and Asper have a successful record of investing in public energy services and as Europe transitions to a zero-carbon future, we are excited about the role that Dorothea will play in this.”

“Heating network investments are one of Asper’s key areas of expertise,” adds Luigi Pettinicchio, CEO of Asper. “This type of infrastructure will be key to deliver Europe’s decarbonisation goals and Dorothea will play an important role in this.”

Mubadala’s utilities portfolio currently comprises of investments in global players in the related sector, including power, water and district heating. Mubadala recently invested $150m in US-based Enviva, which helps utilities worldwide displace coal and other fossil fuels as part of the energy transition to a low-carbon future.

Asper is Europe’s independent investment management firm specialised in sustainable real assets with investment vehicles dedicated to energy transition. Other investors in Dorothea include APG and the European Investment Bank.